Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources’ third of a series of Focus Group Discussions on Sustainable Energy and Water use in the Industry Sector – Actsys MD Norman Lee giving his views on creating an Ecosystem for Sustainability Solutions.
After Shanshan graduated in Chemical Engineering with a first class honours degree from the University of Alberta Canada, she joined the Process Engineering department of Oil Sands, Suncor Energy Inc, Canada, working primarily on process control and optimization of plant processes. She moved to Singapore in 2008 and has since been with Actsys. She became the key service provider for our long term client Tuas Power carrying out Performance Monitoring of their Combined Cycle Plants. In doing so she built up a deep knowledge of the use of Thermodynamic Simulation Models to identify performance gaps in plant components.
This know-how enabled her to tackle challenging jobs in other domains one of which was to analyse causes for the performance gap of the Cracked Gas Compressor in an Ethylene Cracker Plant. Shanshan has also been a key member of the team that spearheaded the development of our Online EMS Energy Management System software platform. Her grasp of technical fundamentals, focus and hands-on approach make her a key member of the Actsys Management Team where she is also involved in Business Strategy for the Online EMS product package. A native Chinese speaker she is also spearheading our marketing strategy into China. She is a Chartered Engineer with the Institute of Engineers Singapore and an NEA National Environmental Agency certified EEOA Energy Efficiency Opportunity Assessor.
Balaji Vaithyanathan is an experienced Energy Efficiency Engineer and Software Development Specialist with over a decade of experience. In his current role as Systems Director Energy and Digitalization for ACTSYS, Balaji leads the development and management of product strategies, manages the entire product lifecycle, conducts market research, and focuses on continuous improvement and application expansions of Actsys@ONE, including emerging technologies such as AI and Machine Learning. Balaji’s expertise in energy efficiency and software development, combined with his leadership skills and project management experience, makes him a key member of the ACTSYS team, and his dedication to improving energy efficiency, developing innovative solutions for clients, and staying on the cutting edge of emerging technologies helps to differentiate Actsys from other service providers in the industry.
Prior to joining ACTSYS, Balaji worked at Tamilnadu Petroproducts Limited, where he was responsible for providing technical and operational support to increase the production efficiency of the Epichlorohydrin (ECH) process unit. Balaji earned his Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in Chemical Engineering from Anna University, India, and the National University of Singapore, respectively. He has experience in process simulation software and optimization tools, as well as proficiency in programming languages like Basic, VB.Net, C#, and Python.
After graduating in BSc and MSc Chemical Engineering from Imperial College London Norman’s professional career started in British Petroleum’s Research Facilities in the UK where he was part of the Process Simulation Software team. This early but positive experience with process simulation has put him in good stead on the use of such tools throughout his career. After BP he worked in Shell for 20 years, which started in Shell Bukom refinery in Singapore and cross posting assignments in Shell Stanlow Refinery in the UK and Shell Pernis Refinery in the Netherlands, during which his jobs spanned Process Technology, Project Engineering, Operations and Refinery Scheduling. His last assignment was as a Service Accounts Manager in Shell Global
Solutions in which he interacted with the senior management teams of a number of Shell Refineries for technical service provision. In 2001 Norman decided to take the big step out and set up Actsys Process Management Consultants Pte Ltd which has firmly established itself in the Singapore Energy Efficiency ecosystem. He chairs the EEOA Energy Efficiency Opportunity Assessment Registry for the National Environmental Agency and he also chairs the Energy Technical Committee in the Environmental and Resources Standards Committee in Enterprise Singapore. He is also a member of NEA’s Expert Board for Appeals under the Carbon Pricing Act. He also sits on the Industry Advisory Board of the Singapore Institute of Technology Chemical Engineering Faculty. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chemical Engineers UK.
Sylvia graduated from Imperial College London in Chemical Engineering and started her career as a Plant Efficiency Engineer with Air Products Ltd. in the U.K. She then joined Shell on Pulau Bukom Refinery and attained Chartered Engineer status in 1990. Her work experiences with Shell in Singapore, The Netherlands and the U.K. included process technology, refinery operations, engineering design, product quality, economics and optimization, planning, strategy, investments, talent management, strategic and operational HR.
During her 23 years with Shell, she held various roles in the manufacturing, supply and distribution part of Shell’s oil business. She spent her early years in process technology, optimisation and operations which ensured efficient operations and maximum product yields of process units. She was involved in the engineering design and development of the propane/propylene rail off-loading and storage facilities, a multi-million sterling pounds investment project in Stanlow Refinery, U.K. Her knowledge of hydrocarbon stream synergies and the competences gained as the Bukom Refinery economist prepared her well for her role as the Regional Supply Strategy & Business Development Manager where she was involved in the review and development of crude oil and product supply strategies and investment plans for the five Shell fully owned refineries in the Asia Pacific.
Sylvia had first-hand experiences in the identification and quantification of the synergies between Oil and Chemicals Integration in Singapore in both technical and commercial terms that led to the construction of the world scale ethylene cracker on Bukom Refinery which produces feedstocks for Shell Chemicals’ Process Units on Jurong Island.
As graduate in Chemical Engineering from Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, Joshi has brief working experience in consulting firm but decided to get hands on experience in process development, pilot studies and production working directly as shift supervisor in intermediate industry. He then joined Hindustan Petroleum (former Esso Bombay Refinery) as process engineer in their project department where he worked on 80 BPD fuels refinery doing crude distillation column heat and material balance, heat exchanger design, preheat train pinch analysis by hand calculation before simulation software were readily available. After 6 years working in there he was assigned as Process Engineer Esso Singapore Refinery for developing basic engineering package for their Lube Refinery Expansion Project where he had hand on experience with process simulators, heat exchanger design and rating as well as heat exchanger network analysis.
He joined Petrochemical Corporation of Singapore in their Engineering Department where he worked on various capital projects including efficiency improvement and debottlenecking of No 1 Naphtha Cracker before taking over as Engineering Manager. There he worked for 17 years supporting the two crackers and managing several projects from concept to construction as well as commissioning.
He moved to Business Development and Planning with role of helping not only justifying own investment but also help in establishing new downstream company’s plant within the complex from allocation of land to designing facilities to supply them raw materials, utilities and other services.
He also worked as Energy Manager for the Company for 6 years where he was leading team to develop, justify and obtain funding for energy conservation projects.
After retiring with 37 years’ experience in refining and petrochemical engineering, as SCEM and EEO Assessor he now supports energy conservation activities of process industry clients in Singapore and Overseas.
After graduating in B.Sc.(Hons) Applied Chemistry from National University of Singapore and winning a Royal Institute of Chemistry (Singapore Section) Gold Medal, Adrian began his professional career in Shell Pulau Bukom Refinery in Singapore and cross posting assignment in Shell Head Office in The Netherlands. During that 25-year period in Shell, his jobs spanned Oil Movements, Refinery Scheduling, Process Operations, Process Technology and Design. His last job was as a Process Manager of thermal cracker and Hydrocracker complexes. In 1995, Adrian decided to leave Shell and took up an appointment as General Manager of a software development company in Christchurch New Zealand.
The company specializes in information management software for the dairy industry in New Zealand and Australia. In 2002, Adrian switched path back to oil industry. He joined Actsys Process Management Consultants Pte Ltd as an Associate Senior Consultant while continuing to live in Christchurch. The consultancy service provided include debottlenecking, revamp, new process plant design, energy monitoring and optimization, oil movements improvement studies for oil refineries and petrochemical plants. Process simulation software was used extensively for his work. Adrian is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers UK. He is also an Adjunct Senior Fellow in the Chemical and Process Engineering Department of The University of Canterbury in Christchurch. His role is to provide process simulation-based design projects and supervision to 4th year students.
